Assignment 1: Hello, my name is Rita Valencia and I teach 5th Grade. As you all might know, in Elementary we teach all subject areas. To be honest, the one I enjoy the most is math. I really enjoy teaching math, I might not be a good mathematician but I feel I have good strategies for teaching it. This confidence impacts my relationship with my students during this time. I feel we can joke and have more fun during math time. The 3 things I wold like to share with the class are the following: 1. Although I have not taken any multiple intelligences test yet I can quickly conclude that the intelligence that I have developed the most is the intra personal intelligence. I am a person who would prefer to listen rather than speak. Some people think I am shy or even that I don't know what we are talking about but it's not that, it's just that I prefer to communicate in different ways rather than speaking. 2. I enjoy being with my family. Both my son and my husband are my life. All three of us love being together and at home. When we go out we go to parks or to eat but we prefer staying at home. 3. One of my passions is food. I Looove to eat. I like sea food, especially ceviche or anything with shrimps. Almost very Friday, my husband cooks something for us and we eat with by a bottle of while. This is the moment for both of us to be together and talk about our stuff. My son, is obviously sleeping.
Assignment 2: One of the many things I have learned in these two days is that in order to differentiate we must know our students. Know what their interest are, know about the topics they like, know their abilities and strength and weaknesses. We need to know what subjects they like in school, how they like to learn and how they like to show what they have learned. In order to achieve this and help students become self competent learners it is necessary to include all the people involved in the teaching process. This means that it is not only the teacher's role to learn about her students in isolation. Parents also need to be involved in this process. The teacher is the one who knows about the teaching methods, the curriculum, the content and several other aspects related to their profession. The parents are the ones who must work in conjunction with the teacher and the student in order to work effectively in benefit of the student. Once we know our students we can then differentiate instruction and give choices to the students as in how they want to show what they have learned. Something that was clear to me in these two sessions is that differentiation is not only related to instruction. Differentiation is also about giving students choice. It's about giving them the opportunity to show their leaning they way they feel more confident in.
Assignment 3: My cartoon is called "Math Review: Fractions"
Assignment 4:
Mariella, Fiorella, Joe, Rita V.
High Functioning Autistic, Aspergers
Students that focus on a single interest
If not treated on time the disease degenerates
Students maybe a handful at home and disruptive at school but have high intellectual abilities
Is usually represented as endless body rocking and arm flopping
Excessive sensory stimulation can be overwhelming for them
Concrete thinkers
Struggle with abstract thinking
Hard to deal with too much stimulus (noisy environments)
Use literal meanings
Avoid too much sensory stimulus
Keep a schedule routine
Written plan of classroom plans and responsibilities
Create a safe, happy and positive environment
Learn about child´s issues and interests.
Be kind but firm.
· Identify student´s individual needs in specific situations such as play areas. For instance which type of textures stimulate/irritate students · They must have a written behavior plan · Visual support
Include parents
Assignment 5: In my opinion, these alterations are a product of evolution more than nature. I think that, with the arrival of the information era our organisms have been in the need of adaptation. Only in the last few decades, communication media has evolved so quickly that all of a sudden we were in front of a huge amount of devices bombarding our senses and, in most cases, making them work all at the same time. This explains why so many people, today, can't work if they are not in an environment that is over stimulating. This explains why now it is so hard for some of us to concentrate in one thing. We now need several things going on in order to actually get something done. This leads me to the answer to "Why do you think nature or evolution programmed some people to be different?" As I repeat, I don’t think it is nature. I think this occurred as an adaptation process to this new information era. All organisms are different and all respond in different ways to different stimuli. I think that these alterations are evidence that all organisms evolve in order to adapt to their environment. In the case of these “alterations” I would say this occurs because these organisms responded differently to the adaptation. I don't think they are programmed for a purpose. I think it is a response to the environment. I hope this is clear!
Assignment 6:
Write a paragraph summarizing what you have learned this unit
You will create a drawing in which you will compare and contrast the new colony we will settle in Mars and a colony on Earth. Make sure you include similarities and difference.
Create a table top or Xtranormal video in which you explain your experiment and show that you followed all the steps in the Scientific Process.
Assume you are persuading your grandmother to visit you in Mars. Design a descriptive, accurate travel brochure. Include both natural and man-made elements that would attract tourists.
Meet up with someone you do not regularly work with and explain what your survival need is and how you will adapt it in Mars. Demonstrate good interpersonal communication skills remembering that these skills include body language, eye contact, gestures, and words.
Go to the "Space Today" webpage and get the information of the gases that compose atmosphere in Mars. Convert them into a decimal and into a fraction and then create a pie graph showing the information.
Create a memory game with the vocabulary from this unit that you think will be helpful for next year’s students.
Create a set of rules for the people in the colony to live by.
Imagine you are living in the time of Galileo Galilei. Write a letter to Galileo as if you were a member of the church in which you judge and criticize his ideas and theories.
Assignment 7: After reading the book and realizing this was all we had done during our course, I had a wonderful idea. There was one activity from the book that applied perfectly with the unit I was teaching and there was another activity that I modified in order to feet my needs. This is how I implemented both of them.
First, let me introduce the context. This is a 5th grade class with 22 students with ages around 10-11. There are 9 girls and 13 boys. Since this is elementary, teachers are in charge of all subject areas. Being this an IB school, the four main subject areas we focus on are reading, writing, math and the PYP Units of Inquiry (UOI). The 2 activities I implemented where form reading and UOI.
Taking into consideration that we are coming to the end of the semester and that maybe I would have no time to finish one of the activities, I decided to have both of the activities taking place during my Language Arts rotations time. Usually my rotations are purely Language Arts related but this time I decided to include a UOI activity that at the end was related to reading.
Before I even began planning my activities I referred to Tomlinson and this was of great help. I had always misunderstood what differentiation was all about. I though that this meant modifying the content in order for students to acquire the information. I was wrong! I understood that not only content could be modified but also the process, the product and the learning environment. It was for this reason that I focused both of my activities on the product.
Oh, let me add that prior to working on these activities I had my students take the “My Way” test in which they all learned what their favorite expression style was. It was exciting for them to learn about their favorite expression way was. Some had no idea they were strong in music. After that we tallied the results and since it was going to be hard for me to give them all an activity that would suit their expression style I decided to have them fill in the Novice/Expert Activity Tally Chart. I feel this was really helpful both for them and for me. This made it clear to me that most of my students were into building and then acting/performing. Truth is, I felt bad because very few of my activities were based on any of these activities. But… what a good way to make me reflect on my practices. This is how I implemented the activities, how the children responded, if I would do this activity again what would I change:
Activity 1: For the first activity I did the GEODESIC DOME ACTIVITY. This was the activity that was a perfect fir for the unit. The unit was on space and the idea was that students had to create a sustainable colony on Mars making sure we would survive. There were five groups that were in charge of a specific need. The needs were food, oxygen, shelter, water and gravity. When the groups presented to the class, the shelter group explained that they were going to build a dome shaped shelter because they had researched that domes were the strongest and most resistant structures. For this, they demonstrated how the dome would look like and the material it would be made of.
Based on this I decided to have a group work on the Geodesic Dome Activity. Even if they were not part of the shelter group it would still be fun and relevant to the unit having different students working on it. That day I split my class up into 2 groups of 11 each. To the group that was working on the geodesic dome I gave the following materials: - Direction Sheet - 60 toothpicks per pairs - 26 gum drops per pair
When it was time for them to build the dome I was in pleased to see how well they responded. They were all on task and working cooperatively and respectfully (surprising) when building the dome. Since they worked in pairs I saw how the student who felt most confident with the activity assumed leadership and guided his/her partner through the process. I also observed that the groups who were done began adding other details to the structure. There was a group who asked for more materials and started to build another dome because they said they wanted to put books on it to see how resistant it was.
This was an enriching activity for me as well, because I saw they interacting in a positive way and what surprised me the most was that none of the groups was engaged on anything else that was not the dome. Even if they had finished building the dome they would find a way to give it another use or add details to make it stringer. I was satisfied with myself for having done this activity because they all had fun and were totally engaged with the activity.
This is an activity that I would definitely do again. The only modification I would make is have more materials. I ran out of materials quickly and there were a few groups who asked for more because they wanted to add weight on it.
Activity 2: For this activity I got the idea from the Pop-Up interest center. As I looked at Figure 5.2 on page 46 I realized that there was something on the display that I was good at and knew someone in school could be able to help me on. This was ORIGAMI!! This activity would fit perfectly with the book we were reading together as a class. This book was “Sadako And the Thousand Paper Cranes”. So, for my second rotation the group was going to do origami to create a paper cranes. For this purpose I only needed: - Colorful origami paper (which I already had because since I am passionate about origami I had ordered it already) - Direction sheet
I also talked to a friend of mine who is good at origami and asked her to come to my classroom the day we were going to have these rotations. Fortunately, my friend agreed and she had a free moment to come. This was good for me because this way I would be free to observe both groups.
That day each child got a paper and they all received a direction sheet. Different to what I thought, most students needed support for this activity. I thought that with the direction sheet it would be enough for them to work on it on their own but I was wrong. I realized that for origami you need another skill besides folding paper. You also need to be good at following visual instructions. As much as I had looked for a good direction sheet, it was still not clear to them.
At the end, I spent most of my time helping the origami group because 11 students with 1 teacher was not a good idea for this activity. There was 1 student who was good at origami so he acted as a helper. What both him and I realized was that most of the students were not good at folding paper from corner to corner and this is a skill you need for origami. If you are not able to fold papers precisely then it is almost impossible to get a good origami product.
I thought they would have some time to add some color or detail to their paper cranes but we had enough time to finish the paper crane only.
This is an activity I would definitely need to modify for the next time. Although it was relevant to the book I think it was too complicated for my novice students. If I were to do origami again I would find another type of bird or another shape that would be relevant to the activity and easy at the same time. I would also try to have experts in class who could help the students who need the help. As much as the students enjoyed the activity because it was new for them, I feel it could have been better if they had something easier they could, pretty much, do on their own.
The 3 things I wold like to share with the class are the following:
1. Although I have not taken any multiple intelligences test yet I can quickly conclude that the intelligence that I have developed the most is the intra personal intelligence. I am a person who would prefer to listen rather than speak. Some people think I am shy or even that I don't know what we are talking about but it's not that, it's just that I prefer to communicate in different ways rather than speaking.
2. I enjoy being with my family. Both my son and my husband are my life. All three of us love being together and at home. When we go out we go to parks or to eat but we prefer staying at home.
3. One of my passions is food. I Looove to eat. I like sea food, especially ceviche or anything with shrimps. Almost very Friday, my husband cooks something for us and we eat with by a bottle of while. This is the moment for both of us to be together and talk about our stuff. My son, is obviously sleeping.
Assignment 2: One of the many things I have learned in these two days is that in order to differentiate we must know our students. Know what their interest are, know about the topics they like, know their abilities and strength and weaknesses. We need to know what subjects they like in school, how they like to learn and how they like to show what they have learned. In order to achieve this and help students become self competent learners it is necessary to include all the people involved in the teaching process. This means that it is not only the teacher's role to learn about her students in isolation. Parents also need to be involved in this process. The teacher is the one who knows about the teaching methods, the curriculum, the content and several other aspects related to their profession. The parents are the ones who must work in conjunction with the teacher and the student in order to work effectively in benefit of the student.
Once we know our students we can then differentiate instruction and give choices to the students as in how they want to show what they have learned.
Something that was clear to me in these two sessions is that differentiation is not only related to instruction. Differentiation is also about giving students choice. It's about giving them the opportunity to show their leaning they way they feel more confident in.
Assignment 3: My cartoon is called "Math Review: Fractions"
Assignment 4:
Aspergers
- Use literal meanings
- Avoid too much sensory stimulus
- Keep a schedule routine
- Written plan of classroom plans and responsibilities
- Create a safe, happy and positive environment
- Learn about child´s issues and interests.
- Be kind but firm.
· Identify student´s individual needs in specific situations such as play areas. For instance which type of textures stimulate/irritate students· They must have a written behavior plan
· Visual support
Assignment 5: In my opinion, these alterations are a product of evolution more than nature. I think that, with the arrival of the information era our organisms have been in the need of adaptation. Only in the last few decades, communication media has evolved so quickly that all of a sudden we were in front of a huge amount of devices bombarding our senses and, in most cases, making them work all at the same time. This explains why so many people, today, can't work if they are not in an environment that is over stimulating. This explains why now it is so hard for some of us to concentrate in one thing. We now need several things going on in order to actually get something done.
This leads me to the answer to "Why do you think nature or evolution programmed some people to be different?" As I repeat, I don’t think it is nature. I think this occurred as an adaptation process to this new information era. All organisms are different and all respond in different ways to different stimuli. I think that these alterations are evidence that all organisms evolve in order to adapt to their environment. In the case of these “alterations” I would say this occurs because these organisms responded differently to the adaptation. I don't think they are programmed for a purpose. I think it is a response to the environment.
I hope this is clear!
Assignment 6:
http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Mars/MarsThePlanet/MarsAir.html
Assignment 7:
After reading the book and realizing this was all we had done during our course, I had a wonderful idea. There was one activity from the book that applied perfectly with the unit I was teaching and there was another activity that I modified in order to feet my needs. This is how I implemented both of them.
First, let me introduce the context. This is a 5th grade class with 22 students with ages around 10-11. There are 9 girls and 13 boys. Since this is elementary, teachers are in charge of all subject areas. Being this an IB school, the four main subject areas we focus on are reading, writing, math and the PYP Units of Inquiry (UOI). The 2 activities I implemented where form reading and UOI.
Taking into consideration that we are coming to the end of the semester and that maybe I would have no time to finish one of the activities, I decided to have both of the activities taking place during my Language Arts rotations time. Usually my rotations are purely Language Arts related but this time I decided to include a UOI activity that at the end was related to reading.
Before I even began planning my activities I referred to Tomlinson and this was of great help. I had always misunderstood what differentiation was all about. I though that this meant modifying the content in order for students to acquire the information. I was wrong! I understood that not only content could be modified but also the process, the product and the learning environment. It was for this reason that I focused both of my activities on the product.
Oh, let me add that prior to working on these activities I had my students take the “My Way” test in which they all learned what their favorite expression style was. It was exciting for them to learn about their favorite expression way was. Some had no idea they were strong in music. After that we tallied the results and since it was going to be hard for me to give them all an activity that would suit their expression style I decided to have them fill in the Novice/Expert Activity Tally Chart. I feel this was really helpful both for them and for me. This made it clear to me that most of my students were into building and then acting/performing. Truth is, I felt bad because very few of my activities were based on any of these activities. But… what a good way to make me reflect on my practices.
This is how I implemented the activities, how the children responded, if I would do this activity again what would I change:
Activity 1: For the first activity I did the GEODESIC DOME ACTIVITY. This was the activity that was a perfect fir for the unit. The unit was on space and the idea was that students had to create a sustainable colony on Mars making sure we would survive. There were five groups that were in charge of a specific need. The needs were food, oxygen, shelter, water and gravity. When the groups presented to the class, the shelter group explained that they were going to build a dome shaped shelter because they had researched that domes were the strongest and most resistant structures. For this, they demonstrated how the dome would look like and the material it would be made of.
Based on this I decided to have a group work on the Geodesic Dome Activity. Even if they were not part of the shelter group it would still be fun and relevant to the unit having different students working on it. That day I split my class up into 2 groups of 11 each. To the group that was working on the geodesic dome I gave the following materials:
- Direction Sheet
- 60 toothpicks per pairs
- 26 gum drops per pair
When it was time for them to build the dome I was in pleased to see how well they responded. They were all on task and working cooperatively and respectfully (surprising) when building the dome. Since they worked in pairs I saw how the student who felt most confident with the activity assumed leadership and guided his/her partner through the process. I also observed that the groups who were done began adding other details to the structure. There was a group who asked for more materials and started to build another dome because they said they wanted to put books on it to see how resistant it was.
This was an enriching activity for me as well, because I saw they interacting in a positive way and what surprised me the most was that none of the groups was engaged on anything else that was not the dome. Even if they had finished building the dome they would find a way to give it another use or add details to make it stringer. I was satisfied with myself for having done this activity because they all had fun and were totally engaged with the activity.
This is an activity that I would definitely do again. The only modification I would make is have more materials. I ran out of materials quickly and there were a few groups who asked for more because they wanted to add weight on it.
Activity 2: For this activity I got the idea from the Pop-Up interest center. As I looked at Figure 5.2 on page 46 I realized that there was something on the display that I was good at and knew someone in school could be able to help me on. This was ORIGAMI!! This activity would fit perfectly with the book we were reading together as a class. This book was “Sadako And the Thousand Paper Cranes”. So, for my second rotation the group was going to do origami to create a paper cranes.
For this purpose I only needed:
- Colorful origami paper (which I already had because since I am passionate about origami I had ordered it already)
- Direction sheet
I also talked to a friend of mine who is good at origami and asked her to come to my classroom the day we were going to have these rotations. Fortunately, my friend agreed and she had a free moment to come. This was good for me because this way I would be free to observe both groups.
That day each child got a paper and they all received a direction sheet. Different to what I thought, most students needed support for this activity. I thought that with the direction sheet it would be enough for them to work on it on their own but I was wrong. I realized that for origami you need another skill besides folding paper. You also need to be good at following visual instructions. As much as I had looked for a good direction sheet, it was still not clear to them.
At the end, I spent most of my time helping the origami group because 11 students with 1 teacher was not a good idea for this activity. There was 1 student who was good at origami so he acted as a helper. What both him and I realized was that most of the students were not good at folding paper from corner to corner and this is a skill you need for origami. If you are not able to fold papers precisely then it is almost impossible to get a good origami product.
I thought they would have some time to add some color or detail to their paper cranes but we had enough time to finish the paper crane only.
This is an activity I would definitely need to modify for the next time. Although it was relevant to the book I think it was too complicated for my novice students. If I were to do origami again I would find another type of bird or another shape that would be relevant to the activity and easy at the same time. I would also try to have experts in class who could help the students who need the help. As much as the students enjoyed the activity because it was new for them, I feel it could have been better if they had something easier they could, pretty much, do on their own.